Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State will know, Sinn Féin has been calling for the Government to engage with the Commission to secure a VAT reduction on household energy bills since November of last year. We did that because we understand and are aware of the provisions of the EU VAT directive and the imperative to retain our existing derogations, and that is why we called for engagement back then. We understood the process takes time, but I remind the Minister of State that these requests were met with opposition and derision from Government benches and indeed Government backbenchers. While I welcome the fact the Government has belatedly adopted our position, I regret it was not until 10 March of this year that the Minister formally wrote to the Commissioner in this respect. We have not seen the letter, we do not know the specifics of the request he made, and what the Minister of State read into the record in regard to this question, which is about home heating oil, did not mention anything in that regard. I will ask again whether the Minister, in any of his engagements with the Commission, sought any flexibility with regard to VAT as it applies to home heating oil.

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